From tedwards at gmail.com Mon Apr 2 13:45:21 2007 From: tedwards at gmail.com (Thomas Edwards) Date: Mon Apr 2 14:22:19 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] Still looking for DigiAOM work Message-ID: <2fd1fa350704021045x1aaf287w9ee8362733615fbc@mail.gmail.com> I'm sitting in the DigiAOM space at Artomatic in Crystal City, and I can confirm that the WiFi Internet connectivity here is now functional! We're still looking for more digital work (robotic, web, Flash, etc.) in the DigiAOM space, email me if you are interested. -Thomas From tedwards at gmail.com Mon Apr 2 22:03:44 2007 From: tedwards at gmail.com (Thomas Edwards) Date: Mon Apr 2 22:03:54 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] Fwd: looking for DC spaces with 5.1 surround installed Message-ID: <2fd1fa350704021903i264769e8o7605d6ef2cbeb620@mail.gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Douglas Wolf" Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:51:41 -0400 Subject: looking for DC spaces with 5.1 surround installed Hello, Does anyone on this list know of spaces in the DC-area (not Baltimore) that have a 5.1 surround system installed? Even better, with video projection possibilities? Thanks, Douglas From tedwards at gmail.com Wed Apr 4 11:50:51 2007 From: tedwards at gmail.com (Thomas Edwards) Date: Wed Apr 4 11:51:26 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] Brief mention in the Connection Newspaper Message-ID: <2fd1fa350704040850y65572955g8a3fe830b181e698@mail.gmail.com> Dorkbot DC is briefly mentioned in a Connection Newspapers article online (anyone have a print copy?) about the Artomatic press briefing I spoke at last week: http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=79601&paper=60&cat=115 -Thomas From katie at hoteldetective.org Sun Apr 8 19:22:41 2007 From: katie at hoteldetective.org (Katie Bechtold) Date: Sun Apr 8 19:24:58 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] seeking advice on teabag popper hack Message-ID: <20070408232240.GJ18133@blue> Hi! I've got the electronic guts out of a disused toaster that I'm looking to convert into a teabag timer a la Johnathan Nightingale in the fourth issue of Make magazine, pages 119-20. Thing is, I'm new to hardware hacking, and my toaster's board is somewhat different from his. I've taken a bunch of pictures of mine: http://www.flickr.com/photos/missioncontrol/sets/72157594182058910/ Not knowing just what I'm looking at, I'm hoping that someone with more electronics know-how could take a look at the pictures (or the board itself, which I could bring with me to the next meeting) and give me some guidance as to where I should be soldering. Or -- and this just occurred to me -- I could bring along the board, a few pieces of wire, and a 9V battery + holder so we could mess around with it at AfterDork and attempt a mock-up of the final circuit. Any takers? -- Katie Bechtold http://hoteldetective.org/ From garethbranwyn at comcast.net Sun Apr 8 19:35:30 2007 From: garethbranwyn at comcast.net (Gareth Branwyn) Date: Sun Apr 8 19:38:54 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] seeking advice on teabag popper hack In-Reply-To: <20070408232240.GJ18133@blue> References: <20070408232240.GJ18133@blue> Message-ID: <8694BB30-5716-4372-99BD-249747A03E23@comcast.net> Hey Katie, Have you tried posting to the Make discussion board for that issue/ article? The site appears to be down at the moment, but all articles have discussions. Any postings to these topics get emailed to the article's author. He/she can probably help you. I'm not familiar with the piece, but I'll go dig out my Vol. 4 and see if I can make heads/ tails of things. Gareth ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------- Gareth Branwyn Cyborg-in-Chief, Street Tech (streettech.com) Contributing Writer, Board Member, MAKE (makezine.com) Contributing Writer, CRAFT (craftzine.com) "Tech Guru," Washington Post Radio Email: garethbranwyn@comcast.net On Apr 8, 2007, at 7:22 PM, Katie Bechtold wrote: > Hi! I've got the electronic guts out of a disused toaster that I'm > looking to convert into a teabag timer a la Johnathan Nightingale in > the fourth issue of Make magazine, pages 119-20. Thing is, I'm new > to hardware hacking, and my toaster's board is somewhat different > from his. I've taken a bunch of pictures of mine: > http://www.flickr.com/photos/missioncontrol/sets/72157594182058910/ > > Not knowing just what I'm looking at, I'm hoping that someone with > more electronics know-how could take a look at the pictures (or the > board itself, which I could bring with me to the next meeting) and > give me some guidance as to where I should be soldering. Or -- and > this just occurred to me -- I could bring along the board, a few > pieces of wire, and a 9V battery + holder so we could mess around > with it at AfterDork and attempt a mock-up of the final circuit. > Any takers? > > -- > Katie Bechtold http://hoteldetective.org/ > > > ...................................................................... > .. > .......dorkbot dc: people doing strange things with > electricity......... > ................... http://dorkbot.org/ > dorkbotdc ....................... > ...................................................................... > .. From katie at hoteldetective.org Sun Apr 8 21:17:24 2007 From: katie at hoteldetective.org (Katie Bechtold) Date: Sun Apr 8 21:19:56 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] seeking advice on teabag popper hack In-Reply-To: <8694BB30-5716-4372-99BD-249747A03E23@comcast.net> References: <20070408232240.GJ18133@blue> <8694BB30-5716-4372-99BD-249747A03E23@comcast.net> Message-ID: <20070409011724.GL18133@blue> On Sun, Apr 08, 2007 at 07:35:30PM -0400, Gareth Branwyn wrote: > Have you tried posting to the Make discussion board for that issue/ > article? I did post a comment on the article page[1] noting that I was trying to figure it out, but I didn't directly ask for help -- this was a year ago, and I don't remember if I just didn't realize I was stuck or if I didn't want to pester the author by asking dumb questions. (He did reply impressively quickly to my comment.) I, umm, could try that, though. [Go go geek social skills! :) ] [1] http://makezine.com/04/diy_teatimer/ -- Katie Bechtold http://hoteldetective.org/ From smlarsso at gmail.com Sun Apr 8 22:04:10 2007 From: smlarsso at gmail.com (S. Mikael Larsson) Date: Sun Apr 8 22:04:27 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] seeking advice on teabag popper hack In-Reply-To: <20070409011724.GL18133@blue> References: <20070408232240.GJ18133@blue> <8694BB30-5716-4372-99BD-249747A03E23@comcast.net> <20070409011724.GL18133@blue> Message-ID: <5256251d0704081904q177c4f54hcea1a2f04997f5d9@mail.gmail.com> Katie, I took a look at the article and it seems like there's really just two main parts to the hack: (1) check to see if the lever stays down with the toaster unplugged; if it does, try a different toaster (2) cut the power cable wherever's most convenient and solder on a 9V battery holder (with polarity on the holder and toaster cable being irrelevant) The rest of the technical stuff was more an explanation of how toasters work, but irrelevant to implementing the hack (I think). That said, I'm all for a Dorkbot hack session! I don't know what Provisions' policy is on soldering irons though... Mike Larsson On 4/8/07, Katie Bechtold wrote: > > On Sun, Apr 08, 2007 at 07:35:30PM -0400, Gareth Branwyn wrote: > > Have you tried posting to the Make discussion board for that issue/ > > article? > > I did post a comment on the article page[1] noting that I was trying > to figure it out, but I didn't directly ask for help -- this was a > year ago, and I don't remember if I just didn't realize I was stuck > or if I didn't want to pester the author by asking dumb questions. > (He did reply impressively quickly to my comment.) I, umm, could > try that, though. [Go go geek social skills! :) ] > > [1] http://makezine.com/04/diy_teatimer/ > > -- > Katie Bechtold http://hoteldetective.org/ > > > ........................................................................ > .......dorkbot dc: people doing strange things with electricity......... > ................... http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotdc ....................... > ........................................................................ > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotdc-blabber/attachments/20070408/cf73a43b/attachment.html From katie at hoteldetective.org Sun Apr 8 22:30:06 2007 From: katie at hoteldetective.org (Katie Bechtold) Date: Sun Apr 8 22:31:50 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] seeking advice on teabag popper hack In-Reply-To: <5256251d0704081904q177c4f54hcea1a2f04997f5d9@mail.gmail.com> References: <20070408232240.GJ18133@blue> <8694BB30-5716-4372-99BD-249747A03E23@comcast.net> <20070409011724.GL18133@blue> <5256251d0704081904q177c4f54hcea1a2f04997f5d9@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20070409023006.GN18133@blue> On Sun, Apr 08, 2007 at 10:04:10PM -0400, S. Mikael Larsson wrote: > (1) check to see if the lever stays down with the toaster unplugged; if it > does, try a different toaster Done. :) > (2) cut the power cable wherever's most convenient and solder on a 9V > battery holder (with polarity on the holder and toaster cable being > irrelevant) I gather there's an additional step: bypassing the bridge rectifier? That was my guess as to how to interpret the sentence: "Solder the other lines [the "output" lines, so to speak] from the lever switch to the power leads on the circuit board -- thanks to the bridge rectifier, polarity doesn't matter." > That said, I'm all > for a Dorkbot hack session! I don't know what Provisions' policy is on > soldering irons though... Heh, I didn't mean to imply doing any soldering there (aside from the next meeting not being at Provisions) -- I was just envisioning using alligator clips or somesuch to temporarily mock up the circuit for later soldering at home. :) -- Katie Bechtold http://hoteldetective.org/ From smlarsso at gmail.com Sun Apr 8 23:49:00 2007 From: smlarsso at gmail.com (S. Mikael Larsson) Date: Mon Apr 9 00:03:44 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] seeking advice on teabag popper hack In-Reply-To: <20070409023006.GN18133@blue> References: <20070408232240.GJ18133@blue> <8694BB30-5716-4372-99BD-249747A03E23@comcast.net> <20070409011724.GL18133@blue> <5256251d0704081904q177c4f54hcea1a2f04997f5d9@mail.gmail.com> <20070409023006.GN18133@blue> Message-ID: <5256251d0704082049k33a85f72h3e455d276eb2ef76@mail.gmail.com> Katie, Oh, right. He does mention an additional solder: attaching the "other lines from the lever switch" to the circuit board. I'm not really sure which "other lines" he means... I would guess that on his toaster the lever switch was disconnected from the circuit board and he had to reconnect them. On yours it looks like it's all nice and neatly connected, so you'd just need to hook up the 9V. That's my guess at least, because the deal with the bridge rectifier is not that you want to bypass it; you're actually making use of it to ensure that the current hitting the circuit board is going in the proper direction, no matter how you hook the battery up. You could always give it a try and see what happens. With a 9V battery, you're not in danger of doing much damage, particularly when you're hooking it up to the end of a cable designed to take 125V. Although it never hurts to have a fire extinguisher on hand... :) Mike Larsson On 4/8/07, Katie Bechtold wrote: > > On Sun, Apr 08, 2007 at 10:04:10PM -0400, S. Mikael Larsson wrote: > > (1) check to see if the lever stays down with the toaster unplugged; if > it > > does, try a different toaster > > Done. :) > > > (2) cut the power cable wherever's most convenient and solder on a 9V > > battery holder (with polarity on the holder and toaster cable being > > irrelevant) > > I gather there's an additional step: bypassing the bridge rectifier? > That was my guess as to how to interpret the sentence: "Solder the > other lines [the "output" lines, so to speak] from the lever switch > to the power leads on the circuit board -- thanks to the bridge > rectifier, polarity doesn't matter." > > > That said, I'm all > > for a Dorkbot hack session! I don't know what Provisions' policy is on > > soldering irons though... > > Heh, I didn't mean to imply doing any soldering there (aside from > the next meeting not being at Provisions) -- I was just envisioning > using alligator clips or somesuch to temporarily mock up the circuit > for later soldering at home. :) > > -- > Katie Bechtold http://hoteldetective.org/ > > > ........................................................................ > .......dorkbot dc: people doing strange things with electricity......... > ................... http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotdc ....................... > ........................................................................ > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotdc-blabber/attachments/20070408/6aa28c32/attachment-0001.html From garethbranwyn at comcast.net Mon Apr 9 00:37:28 2007 From: garethbranwyn at comcast.net (Gareth Branwyn) Date: Mon Apr 9 00:37:45 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] seeking advice on teabag popper hack In-Reply-To: <5256251d0704082049k33a85f72h3e455d276eb2ef76@mail.gmail.com> References: <20070408232240.GJ18133@blue> <8694BB30-5716-4372-99BD-249747A03E23@comcast.net> <20070409011724.GL18133@blue> <5256251d0704081904q177c4f54hcea1a2f04997f5d9@mail.gmail.com> <20070409023006.GN18133@blue> <5256251d0704082049k33a85f72h3e455d276eb2ef76@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: I think Mike is right. It looks like all you need to do is solder the leads to a 9V battery snap onto the power wires and you'll be able to see if it works. Zaitcev raises an interesting point on your Flickr set. Won't the spring-force, designed to eject slices of toast, be a bit much for a teabag? Won't it splatter hot tea everywhere when it pops up?I guess replacing it with a weaker spring wouldn't be that hard. Gareth ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------- Gareth Branwyn Cyborg-in-Chief, Street Tech (streettech.com) Contributing Writer, Board Member, MAKE (makezine.com) Contributing Writer, CRAFT (craftzine.com) Email: garethbranwyn@comcast.net On Apr 8, 2007, at 11:49 PM, S. Mikael Larsson wrote: > Katie, > > Oh, right. He does mention an additional solder: attaching the > "other lines from the lever switch" to the circuit board. I'm not > really sure which "other lines" he means... I would guess that on > his toaster the lever switch was disconnected from the circuit > board and he had to reconnect them. On yours it looks like it's all > nice and neatly connected, so you'd just need to hook up the 9V. > That's my guess at least, because the deal with the bridge > rectifier is not that you want to bypass it; you're actually making > use of it to ensure that the current hitting the circuit board is > going in the proper direction, no matter how you hook the battery up. > > You could always give it a try and see what happens. With a 9V > battery, you're not in danger of doing much damage, particularly > when you're hooking it up to the end of a cable designed to take > 125V. Although it never hurts to have a fire extinguisher on > hand... :) > > Mike Larsson > > On 4/8/07, Katie Bechtold wrote: > On Sun, Apr 08, 2007 at 10:04:10PM -0400, S. Mikael Larsson wrote: > > (1) check to see if the lever stays down with the toaster > unplugged; if it > > does, try a different toaster > > Done. :) > > > (2) cut the power cable wherever's most convenient and solder on > a 9V > > battery holder (with polarity on the holder and toaster cable being > > irrelevant) > > I gather there's an additional step: bypassing the bridge rectifier? > That was my guess as to how to interpret the sentence: "Solder the > other lines [the "output" lines, so to speak] from the lever switch > to the power leads on the circuit board -- thanks to the bridge > rectifier, polarity doesn't matter." > > > That said, I'm all > > for a Dorkbot hack session! I don't know what Provisions' policy > is on > > soldering irons though... > > Heh, I didn't mean to imply doing any soldering there (aside from > the next meeting not being at Provisions) -- I was just envisioning > using alligator clips or somesuch to temporarily mock up the circuit > for later soldering at home. :) > > -- > Katie Bechtold http://hoteldetective.org/ > > > ...................................................................... > .. > .......dorkbot dc: people doing strange things with > electricity......... > ................... http://dorkbot.org/ > dorkbotdc ....................... > ...................................................................... > .. > > ...................................................................... > .. > .......dorkbot dc: people doing strange things with > electricity......... > ................... http://dorkbot.org/ > dorkbotdc ....................... > ...................................................................... > .. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotdc-blabber/attachments/20070409/ff78dbc9/attachment.html From katie at hoteldetective.org Mon Apr 9 11:15:07 2007 From: katie at hoteldetective.org (Katie Bechtold) Date: Mon Apr 9 11:41:48 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] seeking advice on teabag popper hack In-Reply-To: References: <20070408232240.GJ18133@blue> <8694BB30-5716-4372-99BD-249747A03E23@comcast.net> <20070409011724.GL18133@blue> <5256251d0704081904q177c4f54hcea1a2f04997f5d9@mail.gmail.com> <20070409023006.GN18133@blue> <5256251d0704082049k33a85f72h3e455d276eb2ef76@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20070409151506.GQ18133@blue> On Mon, Apr 09, 2007 at 12:37:28AM -0400, Gareth Branwyn wrote: > I think Mike is right. It looks like all you need to do is solder the > leads to a 9V battery snap onto the power wires and you'll be able to > see if it works. Ah, alrighty then. I'll try it out and let you all know what happens. -- Katie Bechtold http://hoteldetective.org/ From lists at mediadog.com Thu Apr 12 01:27:58 2007 From: lists at mediadog.com (Lorne Covington) Date: Thu Apr 12 01:29:08 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] Fwd: Yuri's Night (World Space Party), Thursday, April 12th Message-ID: <461DC35E.3030909@mediadog.com> 119 parties in 32 countries over 6 continents on 2 worlds..... Yuri Gagarin was the first human to go into space on April 12th, 1961. The US Space Shuttle first launched on April 12th, 1981. Yuri's Night is like the St Patricks Day or Cinco de Mayo for space. It is one day when all the world can come together and celebrate the power and beauty of space and what it means for each of us. Join us! Yuri's Night DC Thursday, April 12th 7-11pm *FEATURING Dr. Alan Stern*/ NASA Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate Principal Investigator, Pluto New Horizons Mission / /Music by/ *To the Moon DJ **Rebirth * *Vodka Bar* *Space-Themed Contests & Giveaways* $5 in advance, $10 at the door /Russian Cultural Centre /1825 Phelps Place NW (Just up Connecticut from the Dupont Circle Metro- Red Line) http://dc.yurisnight.net/ www.yuris*night*.net -- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Lorne Covington, MediaDog Studios > Eat dessert first; lorne ayat mediadog dawt com > life is uncertain. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> -- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Lorne Covington, MediaDog Studios > Eat dessert first; lorne ayat mediadog dawt com > life is uncertain. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotdc-blabber/attachments/20070412/947c407f/attachment.html From katie at hoteldetective.org Mon Apr 23 09:39:54 2007 From: katie at hoteldetective.org (Katie Bechtold) Date: Mon Apr 23 09:41:48 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] seeking advice on teabag popper hack In-Reply-To: <20070409151506.GQ18133@blue> References: <20070408232240.GJ18133@blue> <8694BB30-5716-4372-99BD-249747A03E23@comcast.net> <20070409011724.GL18133@blue> <5256251d0704081904q177c4f54hcea1a2f04997f5d9@mail.gmail.com> <20070409023006.GN18133@blue> <5256251d0704082049k33a85f72h3e455d276eb2ef76@mail.gmail.com> <20070409151506.GQ18133@blue> Message-ID: <20070423133954.GA15791@blue> On Mon, Apr 09, 2007 at 11:15:07AM -0400, Katie Bechtold wrote: > On Mon, Apr 09, 2007 at 12:37:28AM -0400, Gareth Branwyn wrote: > > I think Mike is right. It looks like all you need to do is solder the > > leads to a 9V battery snap onto the power wires and you'll be able to > > see if it works. > Ah, alrighty then. I'll try it out and let you all know what > happens. When I mocked it up with alligator clips, I couldn't get the toaster lever to stay down, which I take to mean the electromagnet isn't getting the power it wants. I'll bring it along, with my multimeter, tomorrow evening. -- Katie Bechtold http://hoteldetective.org/ From garethbranwyn at comcast.net Mon Apr 23 14:03:22 2007 From: garethbranwyn at comcast.net (Gareth Branwyn) Date: Mon Apr 23 14:58:28 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] seeking advice on teabag popper hack In-Reply-To: <20070423133954.GA15791@blue> References: <20070408232240.GJ18133@blue> <8694BB30-5716-4372-99BD-249747A03E23@comcast.net> <20070409011724.GL18133@blue> <5256251d0704081904q177c4f54hcea1a2f04997f5d9@mail.gmail.com> <20070409023006.GN18133@blue> <5256251d0704082049k33a85f72h3e455d276eb2ef76@mail.gmail.com> <20070409151506.GQ18133@blue> <20070423133954.GA15791@blue> Message-ID: <027BC2E2-CA77-4631-814A-AD93E3D9F54B@comcast.net> Does it work (i.e. the solenoid holds down the lever) when it's plugged in? -G On Apr 23, 2007, at 9:39 AM, Katie Bechtold wrote: > On Mon, Apr 09, 2007 at 11:15:07AM -0400, Katie Bechtold wrote: >> On Mon, Apr 09, 2007 at 12:37:28AM -0400, Gareth Branwyn wrote: >>> I think Mike is right. It looks like all you need to do is solder >>> the >>> leads to a 9V battery snap onto the power wires and you'll be >>> able to >>> see if it works. >> Ah, alrighty then. I'll try it out and let you all know what >> happens. > > When I mocked it up with alligator clips, I couldn't get the toaster > lever to stay down, which I take to mean the electromagnet isn't > getting the power it wants. I'll bring it along, with my > multimeter, tomorrow evening. > > -- > Katie Bechtold http://hoteldetective.org/ > > > ...................................................................... > .. > .......dorkbot dc: people doing strange things with > electricity......... > ................... http://dorkbot.org/ > dorkbotdc ....................... > ...................................................................... > .. From smlarsso at gmail.com Mon Apr 23 16:07:57 2007 From: smlarsso at gmail.com (S. Mikael Larsson) Date: Mon Apr 23 17:34:39 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] seeking advice on teabag popper hack In-Reply-To: <027BC2E2-CA77-4631-814A-AD93E3D9F54B@comcast.net> References: <20070408232240.GJ18133@blue> <8694BB30-5716-4372-99BD-249747A03E23@comcast.net> <20070409011724.GL18133@blue> <5256251d0704081904q177c4f54hcea1a2f04997f5d9@mail.gmail.com> <20070409023006.GN18133@blue> <5256251d0704082049k33a85f72h3e455d276eb2ef76@mail.gmail.com> <20070409151506.GQ18133@blue> <20070423133954.GA15791@blue> <027BC2E2-CA77-4631-814A-AD93E3D9F54B@comcast.net> Message-ID: <5256251d0704231307l576f61dawe497c635e5b4afb9@mail.gmail.com> After thinking about it some more, I would guess there must be a voltage stepper somewhere in there to bring the 125V down to a more managable voltage for the circuit board that you would need to bypass so that the 9V gets through unaltered. Maybe that was the mystery solder mentioned in the magazine article? Otherwise, if the thing just runs off of 125V, powering it with a 9V isn't going to work. See you tomorrow, Mike On 4/23/07, Gareth Branwyn wrote: > > Does it work (i.e. the solenoid holds down the lever) when it's > plugged in? > > -G > > > On Apr 23, 2007, at 9:39 AM, Katie Bechtold wrote: > > > On Mon, Apr 09, 2007 at 11:15:07AM -0400, Katie Bechtold wrote: > >> On Mon, Apr 09, 2007 at 12:37:28AM -0400, Gareth Branwyn wrote: > >>> I think Mike is right. It looks like all you need to do is solder > >>> the > >>> leads to a 9V battery snap onto the power wires and you'll be > >>> able to > >>> see if it works. > >> Ah, alrighty then. I'll try it out and let you all know what > >> happens. > > > > When I mocked it up with alligator clips, I couldn't get the toaster > > lever to stay down, which I take to mean the electromagnet isn't > > getting the power it wants. I'll bring it along, with my > > multimeter, tomorrow evening. > > > > -- > > Katie Bechtold http://hoteldetective.org/ > > > > > > ...................................................................... > > .. > > .......dorkbot dc: people doing strange things with > > electricity......... > > ................... http://dorkbot.org/ > > dorkbotdc ....................... > > ...................................................................... > > .. > > ........................................................................ > .......dorkbot dc: people doing strange things with electricity......... > ................... http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotdc ....................... > ........................................................................ > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotdc-blabber/attachments/20070423/52123f30/attachment-0001.html From tedwards at gmail.com Mon Apr 23 22:55:30 2007 From: tedwards at gmail.com (Thomas Edwards) Date: Mon Apr 23 22:55:36 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] Volunteers for Robot Workshop for kids @ RobotFest Message-ID: <2fd1fa350704231955n1794510rbed7341ed8af8c01@mail.gmail.com> Robot Fest is coming up this weekend, and Gary Mauler sent me this email: >Jameco is going to send 50 RolyPoly kits to use in our Robot Workshop for Kids. The >problem is that we will need some adult volunteers to help coach the kids as they try to >assemble the RolyPoly kits. >Do you know of any folks in your DC Dorkbot group that might be willing to volunteer to >help us with this project? >Thanks, >Gary Mauler If you'd like to help out, email info@robotfest.com or call (410) 419-8247 Robot Fest details: Saturday, April 28th, 2007 10am to 3pm Historical Electronics Museum 1745 West Nursery Road Linthicum, Maryland 21090 http://www.robotfest.com From tedwards at gmail.com Mon Apr 23 23:01:36 2007 From: tedwards at gmail.com (Thomas Edwards) Date: Mon Apr 23 23:01:41 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] Photographer & web site Message-ID: <2fd1fa350704232001l7ee85c8sf04d6c013f68d2a2@mail.gmail.com> The usual volunteer photographer for Dorkbot DC can't make it to the meeting tomorrow night, so if you have a digital camera and feel up to it, it would be great it you could try to take some pictures of our awesome presenters and email them to me! Also after the last meeting someone came up to me and showed me a super cool redesign for the Dorkbot DC web site. I totally forgot who this was! If that was you, or if you know who it was, email me, because my web design skills are still stuck in the early 1990's... This should be a super meeting with great speakers in a very interesting space! -Thomas From MPanfeld at wileyrein.com Mon Apr 23 23:03:13 2007 From: MPanfeld at wileyrein.com (Panfeld, Michael F.) Date: Mon Apr 23 23:03:19 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] Team Members Needed In-Reply-To: <2fd1fa350704231955n1794510rbed7341ed8af8c01@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <0A22E985DCEAEB4097B2183D76D4010883A2F6@wrfexch1.wrf.com> Hi: I am captain of a team entered in the 48 Hour Film Project. I am trying out a novel shooting approach that incorporates a cameraman using a head-mounted display (instead of the camcorder's viewfinder or LCD screen) in conjunction with a director of photography using dual LCD monitors, DV Rack HD software, and full duplex wireless communication devices. OK, I'll stop. Looking for one or two crew members to join my team. Video/film experience a plus. Should be crazy fun. http://www.48hourfilm.com/dc/ cheers PLEASE NOTE: New Firm Name Effective February 1, 2007, Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP became Wiley Rein LLP. The firm's website address became www.wileyrein.com and all firm email addresses reflect the new Internet domain name. Please take a moment to update your records with our new information. NOTICE: This message (including any attachments) from Wiley Rein LLP may constitute an attorney-client communication and may contain information that is PRIVILEGED and CONFIDENTIAL and/or ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT. If you are not an intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please do not read, copy or forward this message. Please permanently delete all copies and any attachments and notify the sender immediately by sending an e-mail to Information@wileyrein.com. From katie at hoteldetective.org Tue Apr 24 10:27:39 2007 From: katie at hoteldetective.org (Katie Bechtold) Date: Tue Apr 24 10:29:14 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] seeking advice on teabag popper hack In-Reply-To: <027BC2E2-CA77-4631-814A-AD93E3D9F54B@comcast.net> References: <20070408232240.GJ18133@blue> <8694BB30-5716-4372-99BD-249747A03E23@comcast.net> <20070409011724.GL18133@blue> <5256251d0704081904q177c4f54hcea1a2f04997f5d9@mail.gmail.com> <20070409023006.GN18133@blue> <5256251d0704082049k33a85f72h3e455d276eb2ef76@mail.gmail.com> <20070409151506.GQ18133@blue> <20070423133954.GA15791@blue> <027BC2E2-CA77-4631-814A-AD93E3D9F54B@comcast.net> Message-ID: <20070424142739.GH15791@blue> On Mon, Apr 23, 2007 at 02:03:22PM -0400, Gareth Branwyn wrote: > Does it work (i.e. the solenoid holds down the lever) when it's > plugged in? Wouldn't that fry some of the components, since it's counting on having most of the voltage dropped by the heaters I took out? -- Katie Bechtold http://hoteldetective.org/ From tedwards at gmail.com Tue Apr 24 11:30:26 2007 From: tedwards at gmail.com (Thomas Edwards) Date: Tue Apr 24 11:31:46 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] seeking advice on teabag popper hack In-Reply-To: <20070424142739.GH15791@blue> References: <20070408232240.GJ18133@blue> <20070409011724.GL18133@blue> <5256251d0704081904q177c4f54hcea1a2f04997f5d9@mail.gmail.com> <20070409023006.GN18133@blue> <5256251d0704082049k33a85f72h3e455d276eb2ef76@mail.gmail.com> <20070409151506.GQ18133@blue> <20070423133954.GA15791@blue> <027BC2E2-CA77-4631-814A-AD93E3D9F54B@comcast.net> <20070424142739.GH15791@blue> Message-ID: <2fd1fa350704240830s654703bag29f216b84fcfbda5@mail.gmail.com> You don't happen to have a circuit diagram of the (working) toaster do you? In the ones I've seen (like http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/tstovn1.gif), the control circuitry is in parallel with the heating elements across the 120 VAC, so they don't decrease the voltage across the control circuitry. Indeed, those heater wires eventually break, so any design that would "blow up" the control circuitry in case of loss of the heater wires would be a bad idea anyway. That circuit I saw also seems to imply the control circuitry runs off a half-wave rectifier circuit (which already drops a lot of voltage in the conversion to DC), plus a lot of the control circuit supply current flows through the solenoid, combined with the use of a zener diode as a final voltage regulator across any voltage sensitive components. But we'll take a look at it tonight! -Thomas On 4/24/07, Katie Bechtold wrote: > On Mon, Apr 23, 2007 at 02:03:22PM -0400, Gareth Branwyn wrote: > > Does it work (i.e. the solenoid holds down the lever) when it's > > plugged in? > > Wouldn't that fry some of the components, since it's counting on > having most of the voltage dropped by the heaters I took out? > > -- > Katie Bechtold http://hoteldetective.org/ > > > ........................................................................ > .......dorkbot dc: people doing strange things with electricity......... > ................... http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotdc ....................... > ........................................................................ > From garethbranwyn at comcast.net Tue Apr 24 14:11:33 2007 From: garethbranwyn at comcast.net (Gareth Branwyn) Date: Tue Apr 24 14:11:39 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] seeking advice on teabag popper hack In-Reply-To: <2fd1fa350704240830s654703bag29f216b84fcfbda5@mail.gmail.com> References: <20070408232240.GJ18133@blue> <20070409011724.GL18133@blue> <5256251d0704081904q177c4f54hcea1a2f04997f5d9@mail.gmail.com> <20070409023006.GN18133@blue> <5256251d0704082049k33a85f72h3e455d276eb2ef76@mail.gmail.com> <20070409151506.GQ18133@blue> <20070423133954.GA15791@blue> <027BC2E2-CA77-4631-814A-AD93E3D9F54B@comcast.net> <20070424142739.GH15791@blue> <2fd1fa350704240830s654703bag29f216b84fcfbda5@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <17E49107-BCEF-47F0-9432-6DBE4E0023A1@comcast.net> Yeah, as Thomas says, it wouldn't likely burn up the circuit, or the toaster might become a danger (at least to itself) anytime a heating element went bad. That part of the circuit is only switched on when the lever is engaged (I would suspect). So you could just plug it in, depress the lever, and if it holds, quickly unplug the unit. That'll at least tell you if the solenoid is still working. Did we determine if this thing was working (the level/magnet) before you took it apart? And did you try the lever with it NOT plugged in? If it's solenoid-driven, it won't stay down (which is what you want). If it stays down, unplugged, it's the mechanically-switched type and that's useless for this project. Gareth On Apr 24, 2007, at 11:30 AM, Thomas Edwards wrote: > You don't happen to have a circuit diagram of the (working) toaster > do you? > > In the ones I've seen (like http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/tstovn1.gif), > the control circuitry is in parallel with the heating elements across > the 120 VAC, so they don't decrease the voltage across the control > circuitry. Indeed, those heater wires eventually break, so any design > that would "blow up" the control circuitry in case of loss of the > heater wires would be a bad idea anyway. > > That circuit I saw also seems to imply the control circuitry runs off > a half-wave rectifier circuit (which already drops a lot of voltage in > the conversion to DC), plus a lot of the control circuit supply > current flows through the solenoid, combined with the use of a zener > diode as a final voltage regulator across any voltage sensitive > components. > > But we'll take a look at it tonight! > > -Thomas > > > > On 4/24/07, Katie Bechtold wrote: >> On Mon, Apr 23, 2007 at 02:03:22PM -0400, Gareth Branwyn wrote: >> > Does it work (i.e. the solenoid holds down the lever) when it's >> > plugged in? >> >> Wouldn't that fry some of the components, since it's counting on >> having most of the voltage dropped by the heaters I took out? >> >> -- >> Katie Bechtold http://hoteldetective.org/ >> >> >> ..................................................................... >> ... >> .......dorkbot dc: people doing strange things with >> electricity......... >> ................... http://dorkbot.org/ >> dorkbotdc ....................... >> ..................................................................... >> ... >> > ...................................................................... > .. > .......dorkbot dc: people doing strange things with > electricity......... > ................... http://dorkbot.org/ > dorkbotdc ....................... > ...................................................................... > .. From katie at hoteldetective.org Tue Apr 24 14:26:28 2007 From: katie at hoteldetective.org (Katie Bechtold) Date: Tue Apr 24 14:35:55 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] seeking advice on teabag popper hack In-Reply-To: <17E49107-BCEF-47F0-9432-6DBE4E0023A1@comcast.net> References: <5256251d0704081904q177c4f54hcea1a2f04997f5d9@mail.gmail.com> <20070409023006.GN18133@blue> <5256251d0704082049k33a85f72h3e455d276eb2ef76@mail.gmail.com> <20070409151506.GQ18133@blue> <20070423133954.GA15791@blue> <027BC2E2-CA77-4631-814A-AD93E3D9F54B@comcast.net> <20070424142739.GH15791@blue> <2fd1fa350704240830s654703bag29f216b84fcfbda5@mail.gmail.com> <17E49107-BCEF-47F0-9432-6DBE4E0023A1@comcast.net> Message-ID: <20070424182628.GO15791@blue> On Tue, Apr 24, 2007 at 02:11:33PM -0400, Gareth Branwyn wrote: > Yeah, as Thomas says, it wouldn't likely burn up the circuit, or the > toaster might become a danger (at least to itself) anytime a heating > element went bad. That part of the circuit is only switched on when > the lever is engaged (I would suspect). So you could just plug it in, > depress the lever, and if it holds, quickly unplug the unit. That'll > at least tell you if the solenoid is still working. Ah, okay. I'll bring along the wall cord that I'd snipped off -- I didn't have a chance last night to strip off enough insulation from it to make a good re-connection, but that should be a matter of a minutes' work. > Did we determine if this thing was working (the level/magnet) before > you took it apart? And did you try the lever with it NOT plugged in? > If it's solenoid-driven, it won't stay down (which is what you want). > If it stays down, unplugged, it's the mechanically-switched type and > that's useless for this project. Yes, it was working before I disassembled it, and I did test it then to make sure that the lever wouldn't stay down when it wasn't plugged in, confirming that it's solenoid-driven. -- Katie Bechtold http://hoteldetective.org/ From atrus at atrus.org Tue Apr 24 17:27:37 2007 From: atrus at atrus.org (Nikolas Coukouma) Date: Tue Apr 24 17:27:53 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] DemoCamp DC 2 Reminder Message-ID: <462E7649.4090002@atrus.org> DemoCamp DC 2 will occur tomorrow night (Wednesday, 4/25) in College Park, MD. As usual, there are more details on the wiki page: https://barcamp.pbwiki.com/DemoCampDC2 As I write this, there's still slots available for demos. Remember, you can demo something that's software or hardware, a prototype or polished work, useful or just fun. If you're planning to attend, then please add yourself to the attendees list. Not adding yourself makes it harder to plan ;) Cheers, -Nikolas -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: signature.asc Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 189 bytes Desc: OpenPGP digital signature Url : http://music.columbia.edu/pipermail/dorkbotdc-blabber/attachments/20070424/5f578ace/signature-0001.bin From katie at hoteldetective.org Wed Apr 25 13:37:32 2007 From: katie at hoteldetective.org (Katie Bechtold) Date: Wed Apr 25 13:41:02 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] seeking advice on teabag popper hack In-Reply-To: <17E49107-BCEF-47F0-9432-6DBE4E0023A1@comcast.net> References: <5256251d0704081904q177c4f54hcea1a2f04997f5d9@mail.gmail.com> <20070409023006.GN18133@blue> <5256251d0704082049k33a85f72h3e455d276eb2ef76@mail.gmail.com> <20070409151506.GQ18133@blue> <20070423133954.GA15791@blue> <027BC2E2-CA77-4631-814A-AD93E3D9F54B@comcast.net> <20070424142739.GH15791@blue> <2fd1fa350704240830s654703bag29f216b84fcfbda5@mail.gmail.com> <17E49107-BCEF-47F0-9432-6DBE4E0023A1@comcast.net> Message-ID: <20070425173732.GV15791@blue> On Tue, Apr 24, 2007 at 02:11:33PM -0400, Gareth Branwyn wrote: > So you could just plug it in, > depress the lever, and if it holds, quickly unplug the unit. That'll > at least tell you if the solenoid is still working. I finally tried that, and it didn't hold. Guess I must have disassembled it by at least one part too many! -- Katie Bechtold http://hoteldetective.org/ From alberto.gaitan at gmail.com Wed Apr 25 22:52:45 2007 From: alberto.gaitan at gmail.com (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Alberto_Gait=E1n?=) Date: Wed Apr 25 22:52:53 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] Graphic input device based on refractive index of glass & water Message-ID: <463013FD.8090004@gmail.com> Regarding a comment made at last night's dorkbot dc meeting, here is information about the 1985 (!) patent on the interface. I've used it and it was very expressive. If you ever visited the Exploratorium, in SF, in the 90s, you may have used it, too. http://tinyurl.com/2653yr and, from 1991 http://tinyurl.com/yuw6dq Thomas sends this link to an interactive bar based on a similar principle: http://www.i-bar.ch/info/ From pkohn at mail.nih.gov Sat Apr 28 09:39:12 2007 From: pkohn at mail.nih.gov (Kohn, Philip (NIH/NIMH) [E]) Date: Sat Apr 28 09:40:33 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] qwerk Message-ID: <9E5BBF71795B244FAB47AAA0EFECA5EE1564D5@nihcesmlbx2.nih.gov> I'm sure many of you know about this, but I just ran into this thing called qwerk. Wow! It really has everything. Built in power supply, 16 R/C servo, 200MHz ARM processor, 16 digital I/O, 8 analog inputs, 2 RS-232, USB 2.0, 10/100BT ether, audio amp, 4 closed loop 2 amp motor controllers, latest Xilinx gate array, support for wifi and video input, and best of all it comes with a full 2.6 linux kernel. All this in a 5.1? x 5.8? x 1.3", 11.8 ozs rugged aluminum package. Seems like all you need to do as add motors and you have... whatever you want that moves. Makes my imagination run wild! http://www.charmedlabs.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29 The same company has a card to hack the gameboy advance into a general purpose microcontroller. Philip From rmadams at epotential.com Sun Apr 29 18:50:56 2007 From: rmadams at epotential.com (R. Mark Adams, Ph.D.) Date: Sun Apr 29 18:57:42 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] DNA Music information online Message-ID: <46352150.4090805@epotential.com> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Dorkbotters- As promised, I just finished (finally) putting up the site with all of the DNA music stuff I showed last month. (Software, mp3s, presentation, etc.) The software is still _really_ raw, and needs lots of work, but I figure better to get it out there than to wait until it is perfect, since it will certainly never be that. URL: http://www.epotential.com/radiofreegenome Please feel free to drop me email with questions, etc. and I will happily do what I can to help! Thanks! - -Mark - -- | | | | R. Mark Adams, Ph.D. | "Nothing is worth | | Computational Biologist | more than today" | | rmadams@epotential.com | -Goethe | -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.1 (Darwin) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFGNSFP5rQGeNhqYzcRAgy8AJ9QlQoxivUHiX/EACEmcbm4m/WBCACfWZjK wY7PtTBKi13Ah/y0D7GAKOY= =nsw7 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- From rosskarchner at gmail.com Mon Apr 30 08:08:40 2007 From: rosskarchner at gmail.com (Ross M Karchner) Date: Mon Apr 30 08:08:48 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] NPR on circuit bending and gameboy music Message-ID: <9cd84480704300508k33adefe0ib8c83925c82bb26d@mail.gmail.com> In case anyone missed these from Weekend Edition: Bent Festival: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9903595 8-Bit Operators: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9903598 -Ross http://rossnotes.com From tedwards at gmail.com Mon Apr 30 21:36:06 2007 From: tedwards at gmail.com (Thomas Edwards) Date: Mon Apr 30 22:20:52 2007 Subject: [dorkbotdc-blabber] =?iso-8859-1?q?Alberto_Gait=E1n=27s_Remembra?= =?iso-8859-1?q?ncer_articles?= Message-ID: <2fd1fa350704301836p37ac509epb43469dbcbf66556@mail.gmail.com> 1) Next Dorkbot DC will be Wednesday, May 30, 2007 2) Alberto Gait?n's Remembrancer has a write-up in the WaPo: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/27/AR2007042702169.html ...and the Express: http://www.readexpress.com/read_freeride/2007/04/sight_scene_alberto_gaitan.php ...and more pictures here: http://furcafe.blogspot.com/2007/04/alberto-gaitns-remembrancer-curators.html -Thomas